Sunday openings ‘inevitable’, insists Hytner

Published Wednesday 7 June 2006 at 15:05 by Alistair Smith

Exclusive: National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner has claimed that widespread Sunday openings in UK theatre are “inevitable” and warned that the industry will “shrivel” unless it responds to public demand for a seven-day week.

The NT is in negotiations with Bectu over proposals to introduce compulsory Sunday work into contracts for new staff being taken on by the theatre. Existing staff are currently able to work on Sundays but only on a voluntary basis. This would not change under the proposals.

Speaking to The Stage, Hytner acknowledged that the plans were a “big ask” for the NT’s permanent staff but stressed that they were necessary, adding he was keen to work with Bectu to reach a settlement.

He stated: “Everybody who works in the theatre industry understands that [Sunday openings] are inevitable. It is an anomaly in so many ways. On the South Bank, we are the only dark building on a Sunday. We have, as an industry, been slow off the mark to solve this problem… Sunday is the big day. I completely get that our workforce would like to stay at home on Sunday, but in the end we have to respond to public demand or we, as an industry, will shrivel and I do not believe that anyone could argue with that.”

Negotiations with Bectu have been ongoing for some time but according to union supervisory official Willy Donaghy, it is still too early to tell how far from a conclusion they are. He added that he was preparing for crucial meetings with the National later this week.

“It is early days in the discussions. The proposal is that new staff would not have the same protections as existing staff and we don’t want a two-tier workforce,” he explained.

“Its a quality of life issue, even though Nick might think it’s inevitable, there have to be protections built in for staff… It’s not just about money, it’s about quality of life as well.”

Other unions have reached in principle agreements over Sunday openings with the National. However Bectu, which represents backstage and technical staff at the venue, has proved to be the stumbling block to Hytner’s plans to convert the NT into a seven-day operation.

According to Donaghy, Bectu is in a different position to other unions because Sunday openings will affect their members on a full-time basis, whereas for performers it would only change working practices for the length of their contract with the NT.